Sitla Estate, Mukteshwar: Why this 40-acre Himalayan retreat has just 12 rooms

I learn about apple farming, ligudva fiddle ferns and the man-eaters of Kumaon under the shade of an old plum tree. I am still in my pyjamas, my fingers sticky with warm toast slathered with butter and local honey, when I am told that tigers smell like popcorn and that if I am ever lost in the forest, I need to take off my shoes and hug a mossy tree to hydrate. Unsure whether the Sitla Estate naturalist Raju Mehta is joking, I peer at him questioningly, while a grey-hooded warbler provides a cheery soundtrack.

He is deadpan. As I soon find out, when we plunge into the Mukteshwar reserve forests, Raju does not joke. As nimble as a deer, he leads us along a path made by wild animals, freezing when a sounder of wild boars trots past.

We splash through cold streams, sniff wild ajwain and pluck medicinal chota dhatura, a cockleweed said to have healing properties. Then, we track a leopard, following claw marks on a tree trunk, and paw prints in the soft soil.